Berlin voices angers at possible U.S. spying on Merkel's cellphone
BERLIN, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The German government voiced its anger on Wednesday evening at possible U.S. intelligence's spying on the mobile phone communications of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying it would be "a serious breach of trust" if confirmed.
In an unusual sharply-worded statement, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said that Merkel called U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday after her government had received information on the possible spying.
"She made it clear that she unequivocally disapproves such practices should they be confirmed and deems them as completely unacceptable," the statement said.
"Among close friends and partners, as Germany and the U.S. have been for decades, there should be no such monitoring of communications of a head of government," Seibert said, adding that "This would be a serious breach of trust."
Merkel has also called on Washington to clarify the extent of possible surveillance activities in Germany and to give answers to "questions that the German government asked months ago," Seibert said.
The White House has immediately denied that the U.S. tapped Merkel's phone calls.
"The United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor," news reports reaching here quoted White House spokesman Jay Carney as saying on Wednesday.
Citing classified documents disclosed by fugitive former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, German magazine Der Spiegel reported in June that Germany is high on the list of telephone telecommunication and Internet message tapping, as half a billion phone calls, emails and Internet chat messages could be intercepted by U.S. intelligence monthly on average.
Merkel had voiced concerns over the possible electronic surveillance when Obama visited Germany in June.
In immediate reaction to the latest revelations concerning Merkel's mobile phone, German news media said that the German-U.S relations is apparently facing a harsh stress test.
"The unusual announcement of the government and the sharp word choice underscores how explosive the matter is," said the online edition of the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine.
Another German daily Die Welt said that the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has been examining clues for days to the possible U.S tapping of Merkel's mobile phone.
德要求美澄清窃听默克尔手机一事
新华网柏林10月23日电(记者胡小兵)德国政府发言人赛伯特23日说，德国政府已得到情报，德国总理默克尔的手机可能被美国情报机关监听。德方已向美方紧急质询，并请美方立即全面地给予澄清。
赛伯特在一份声明中说，默克尔当天已就此事与美国总统奥巴马通了电话。默克尔表示，如果情报确凿的话，她坚决反对这种窃听行为，这种行为是完全不可接受的。她同时希望，美方就针对德国的监听情况作出解释，并回答德方数月前向美方提出的此类问题。
德国和美国数十年来保持紧密的伙伴关系，对政府首脑的通讯设备进行监听没有发生过。赛伯特说，这件事可能严重损害两国之间的相互信任，这种窃听行为必须立即禁止。
另据德国《明镜》周刊当日报道，美国国家安全委员会的一位女发言人向该周刊表示“奥巴马已向默克尔保证，美国现在没有监听默克尔的通讯往来，将来也不会监听”，但她不愿意回答过去是否这样做过。
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